THE COURT OF APPEAL’S PRONOUNCEMENT IN CNOOC & ANOR V NNPC & ANOR: A JURISDICTIONAL LANDMINE?

Abstract

The present article examinedthe  various contradictory decisionswhich have been delivered by two separate  trial  courts  in  the Lagos division  of  the  Federal  High  Court  (FHC),on  the constitutionality  or  otherwise  of  the jurisdiction  of  the  Tax  Appeal Tribunal  (TAT)  in  Nigeria. Thus,whereas one  court  of the Lagosdivision  of  the FHChadheld  in  NNPC vTAT  &  3  Ors, validating  the  jurisdiction  of the TAT,that TAT was  not a  court,  but  an administrative  tribunal established  by  statute  to  resolve  taxation  disputesbetween  taxpayers  and  the  FederalInland Revenue Service  (FIRS), surprisingly, another court of the same Lagos division of the FHC, on the  other  hand,  held  otherwise,  in  the  case  of  CNOOC  &  AnorvNNPC  &  Anor.  Hence,  since both Courts are of co-ordinate Jurisdiction, thusthe two contradictory pronouncements created some  doubts,  uncertainty  and  confusion  in  the  minds of  stakeholders.  Accordingly,  it  becameimperative for the Court of Appeal, which is next in the hierarchy of courts in Nigeria, to make a pronouncement  on  the way  forward,  on  the  subject.  The  present  article  therefore  x-rays arguments, laced with authorities, in support of the creation of the TAT as a necessaryfacilitator for  resolution  of  tax  disputes  and  conflicts,  with  the  decision  of  the Court of  Appeal Lagos Division, in CNOOC  &  Anor vNNPC  &  Anor,  in  perspective.However,  the  article  concludedwith a call that, evenwith the pronouncement of the Appellate Court, that it is not yet uhuru, for there  is  still  need,  and  an  urgent  one,  too,  for  legislative  interventions,  to  review  the  extant statute creating the TAT, to embrace current agitations, demands and realities.